2008 Year-end Lists

You know what I love about New Year's Eve and the days leading up to it (aside from firecrackers)? All the year-end "best of" lists. I am a huge fan of lists and the end of every year sets the table for wonderful list-orgies: the top 10 movies according to BBC, New York Times, Rolling Stone; the top 10 albums according to Spin, Mojo, Village Voice; the top ten people according to Time...everyone of them just fascinates the hell out of me. I'm not even totally sure why.

And now that firecrackers are screaming all over the night sky, I am inspired to make my own lists of things that stood out for me in 2008:

TOP TEN SONGS (DOWNLOADED, BOUGHT, OR JUST HEARD IN 2008)

10. “Indian Summer” by Luna. Perfect head-swaying music. I have a feeling this would be at least 10 times better if I listened to it stoned. Great version, as if Luna breathed actual life into the original (I'm not against Beat Happening, as I would prove later in this list).

9. “Space Girl” by BMX Bandits. Sounds even cooler while driving around Subic in the summer. Special mention for reviving the "summer song" idea this year.

8. “Friday Noon” by Ciudad. Special mention for reviving the "lazy afternoon anthem" idea. Ciudad got me through countless sleepy hours in my cubicle this year.

7. “Finistere” by Blueboy. You know what, screw it. I think Bit Torrent needs extra special mention for reviving "lazy summer afternoon" music after it seemed destined to be remembered as merely a footnote of my early 90s music discoveries.

6. “Sleepy Head” by Beat Happening. See? I love these guys. I apologize to all indie snobs out there - yes, I discovered Beat Happening just this year. Wait, why am I apologizing? You love it when other people are soooo behind.

5. “Boys Don’t Matter” by Blueboy. Pure indie-guitar bliss. What else can you say?

4. “We May Be The Ones” by Paul Westerberg. It turns out my Paul Westerberg rediscovery project was extended to this year. There's nothing like driving from work late at night, feeling profoundly insignificant, while listening to Mr. Westerberg sing: "we may well be the ones to set this world on its ears/we may well be the ones, if not then why are we here?"

3. “That’s Because You Drive Me” by The Acid House Kings. Ultimate summer song discovery of 2008. The elliptical guitar rhythms massages your soul inside-out.

2. “Sailors’ Graves” by Even As We Speak. Another addition to my ever-expanding "songs-that-would've-made-my-teenage-years-infinitely-cooler-had-I-discovered-them-15-years-ago" list. Man, I need to go to list-rehab.

1. “Unsatisfied” by The Replacements. Not just my theme song for 2008, it's the theme song of my entire existence.

TOP FIVE ALBUMS (DOWNLOADED OR BOUGHT IN 2008)

5. “The Young Picnickers” by The Pearlfishers. Reminds you that pop music is supposed to be pleasurable and not annoyingly tedious.

4. “You Turn Me On” by Beat Happening. I thank this album for making me feel cool during the times when I was clearly not this year.

3. “Serious Drugs” by BMX Bandits. Ditto.

2. “Stereo” by Paul Westerberg. When you want to pretend that the 2000s never happened; just put this on your stereo.

1. “Sing Along With The Acid House Kings” by The Acid House Kings. The ultimate "lazy summer afternoon" album in a year filled with "lazy summer afternoon" discoveries.

TOP FIVE MOVIES (SEEN IN 2008)

5. “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story”. Totally underrated. Its mock-seriousness transcends so many comedy levels; it's the Sgt. Pepper of spoofs.

4. “4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days”. It's uncomfortable to watch at times, but you can't walk away from it. This film captures your entire consciousness so thoroughly that by the time it's finished you forget that what you saw was just a film.

3. “WALL-E”. Easily the most existentially painful cartoon in history, and its lead characters aren't even organisms.

2. “Once”. A pragmatic and musical version of Before Sunrise/Sunset. Makes me infinetely more frustrated that I can't make music.

1. “Endo”. A beautifully-crafted, modestly-made third-world romantic movie. We should've sent this to the Oscars instead of Ploning. But of course, this is the same award-giving body that actually thought "A Beautiful Mind" was a good movie. On second thought, good luck Judy Ann.

TOP FIVE BOOKS (READ IN 2008)

5. "Assassination Vacation" by Sarah Vowell. Noteworthy for the fact that I read this during a vacation that was effectively assassinated by my companions and that I read this light reflection of shady events in American history in a year when America decided to exorcise its shady history.

4. "Our Band Could Be Your Life" by Michael Azerrad. Responsible for my advanced Paul Westerberg course and introduction to Beat Happening. Completely changed the way I look at post-punk music in general.

3. "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. Thank you, Mr. Gladwell. I always knew it wasn't my fault that I'm a complete utter failure.

2. "Para Kay B" by Ricky Lee. In his postscript, Ricky Lee says that he wants to be read by everyone, not just by fellow writers. Ironic, considering that his first novel, "Para Kay B" is the ultimate loveletter to all pinoy writers - successful or not. "Para Kay B" perfectly demonstrates the writer's curse: that his mind perpetually exists in a world that can be malleable and poetic while his body exists in a world that is harsh, ugly, and cold. The lead character, Lucas, is easily my most identifiable character of all time.

1. "South of the Border, West of the Sun" by Haruki Murakami. And yet this is still my most important book of 2008. Why? Because it's the quintessential tragic love story. Period.